AeroMobile, a Britain-based company, said it had fitted out aircraft operated by Emirates, Malaysia Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.

German carrier Lufthansa is already offering the same level of functionality as SIA on some of its worldwide routes, but not on its Singapore-Frankfurt leg, although it hopes to offer this soon.

Lufthansa passengers can pay ¤10 ($15.70) for an hour of data usage or ¤20 for 24 hours of data usage, which can even be used in transit.

In comparison, SIA is offering a promotional price on this service, until Nov 30, of US$25 for 30MB of data (about the size of six to eight music files) and US$10 for 10MB of data.

The airline said work was also under way to "bring the next generation of in-flight entertainment offerings" to customers. This will include the latest screen and handset technology and more video and audio content.

Details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Business traveller Allen Tan, 41, said it was definitely a big plus for passengers.

"Of course, sometimes you really do want some down time, but on the other hand it's good to know you can respond to business matters whenever you need to," he said.

GIVING CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANT

As our customers' preferences towards entertainment and connectivity options change over time, so must we.